


stay with me under these waves tonight

by MargaretKire



Category: Mænd & høns | Men & Chicken (2015)
Genre: Eat the Rare 2017, Elias is a fisherman, Extremely high sex drive, M/M, Masturbation, Size Difference, two odd balls finding each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-24
Updated: 2017-09-24
Packaged: 2019-01-05 02:44:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12181368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MargaretKire/pseuds/MargaretKire
Summary: Elias responds to a desperate mayday during a storm. He finds a ship-wrecked Adam.





	stay with me under these waves tonight

**Author's Note:**

> I blame [CamilleFlyingRotten](http://camilleflyingrotten.tumblr.com/) for getting me into this ship. If it wasn't for her jaw-droppingly amazing Elias and Adam art, I would never have found my way here. So thank you from the bottom of my Hannibal-obsessed, black, twisted heart.
> 
> Title from Jeff Buckley's "Nightmares by the Sea"

Elias' hands were calloused, though he still felt the burn of the rope sliding through them as he fought to get the last of the prawn traps into the boat. It was a decent catch, especially for this time of year, but that was the advantage of fishing illegally. There was more to catch.

He hadn't seen another human being in three weeks. The last few times he had made it to the warehouse to drop off his catch, the place had been abandoned. Usually, that wouldn't worry him. The one other person in this off-the-books fishing operation often disappeared for a few weeks. Sometimes Albert would stop off at a larger port to spend some of the money that they had hard-earned from the frigid northern seas. Elias didn't mind, because Albert would often bring back whiskey and candy, or even ladies underwear catalogs, and share the spoils with him.

Unlike Albert, Elias didn't spend his money. He hoarded it. Half on his boat and half in the secluded shack he had built just off the shore of the mainland. He rarely slept there, finding that it was hard to fall asleep without the gentle rocking of the boat, but it was a necessity when storms blew up and it became too dangerous to stay out on the water.

This time, though, as he moored his boat at the rickety dock, invisible to anyone who didn't know it's exact location, and saw that the warehouse still showed no signs of life, he became concerned. Gripping the first of many Styrofoam coolers, Elias moved quickly up the path to the receiving bay. He rolled back the large door and propped it open with a cinderblock, then set the container just inside the shadow of the door, before returning to the boat for the next cooler.

Nearly an hour later, the last container safely inside, Elias was dismayed to find his last catch, as well as the catch before, still stacked neatly in the freezers. There was no mistaking the packages. The date labels he had painstakingly made for them were stuck to their fronts. That meant that Albert had not made it back and then left again, as Elias had hoped.

A search of the small office and the tiny apartment beyond yielded nothing useful. Some of Albert's clothes and possessions were still there, but others seemed to be missing. It was inconclusive. He looked for a note, but didn't find one.

Albert was probably just delayed. Maybe he had gotten caught up with one of the many women he was always bragging about. Maybe he had gotten sick and was in the hospital. Well, in any event, Elias reckoned that he had about two weeks worth of fishing that he could do before he completely filled up the remaining space in the freezers.

That was as far as he got in his planning. After that, if Albert hadn’t returned, he could decide whether he would need to transport the frozen prawns himself, or stop fishing altogether until Albert reappeared.

Elias made himself at home, figuring that Albert owed him at least that much for inexplicably abandoning him. After finding a pair of warm, knitted socks in one of the milk crates Albert used as a dresser, Elias padded out into the cobbled-together kitchen to hunt for food.

He flexed his sore toes in the warm socks, humming happily as he peered into the fridge. He usually didn't get much besides the basic rations he always kept on the boat: beef jerky, trail mix, instant noodles for when he got up to his shack and could run the electric kettle off the generator.

It seemed Albert had been holding out on him. While some of the food in the fridge was likely past its expiration date, there was a lot that still looked edible. He grabbed up a sealed package of bacon, checking the date and smiling when he saw that it was just a day over. Plenty fresh enough for him.

Sitting down, half an hour later, with a plate of bacon and cheesy eggs, Elias poured fresh coffee into his mug and stretched his legs out under the plastic table. This was living. He could get used to this in a hurry.

He ate quickly, not being able to slow down and really savor the food, even though there were no other people trying to get at his plate. Old habits died hard.

He had just started dozing off on the threadbare sofa when he heard it: the gentle crackling static of a two-way radio. It hissed and sputtered from the tiny office. Elias groaned, wanting to ignore it, but it might be Albert trying to contact him.

Stumbling into the office, he found the radio and saw that, rather than being set to whatever frequency Albert used to call from his boat, it was tuned to emergency services. He sat down heavily in the metal chair and listened to the storm warning being broadcast in a flurry of white noise and static.

It seemed there was a monster gale blowing up over the open ocean, headed for the mainland. Elias frowned. The inlet where his ship was moored was well-sheltered, but his boat was also all he had in the world. If it were to go down in a storm he had no idea what he would do.

He considered taking it up the mouth of the river, knowing he could get a few miles upstream before it became too shallow for the boat's keel. There was a different set of dangers on the river, however. The forest pressed up close on both sides, the large trunks of the trees hanging out precariously over the water. If the storm was a real howler, there would be danger of the trees smashing onto the deck or through the tiny cabin. 

In the end, he checked his boat over carefully, collecting the waterproof pouch that contained his savings and the few things that he couldn’t easily replace if they got washed out to sea. Then he batoned everything down tightly and hoped that the water would stay out.

He headed back to the relative safety of the fishing station right as the first, fat globs of rain started coming down. By the time he'd made it to shelter, mere minutes later, the rain was coming down in torrents. He made himself another cup of coffee before setting the cheap, wall-mounted water heater as high as it would go, deciding to indulge in a proper bath while the wind howled outside and rain beat against the tin roof. 

Elias had to take two baths- one to get off the outer crust of dirt, and the second to enjoy and get properly clean. He scrubbed himself over with a bit of green soap he found in the medicine cabinet, before tackling his hair with shampoo. It was a struggle getting his fingers through the snarl of his greying hair, much too long now, hanging past his shoulders when it was wet. He rinsed it under the bath tap, wiping at his coarse beard as well. Once he'd toweled off, his chest hair rucked up and fluffy, he peered at himself in the mirror.

It had been awhile since he'd looked at his own face. It was as he remembered it: his curled lip *mostly covered by the beard, though several of his expressions showed his teeth, and then it was much more noticeable. He could do with a shave, and for a moment, he considered taking off all his facial hair while he had the chance. He rubbed over it and tugged on his chin whiskers as the wind blew rain against the small windows. The beard was actually useful- keeping off the sun, the wind, the salt spray of the ocean as it lashed up against his fishing boat in big frothy plumes.

Also, it was rather handsome. He turned this way and that, admiring himself now that he had the chance. He knew, of course, that he was not necessarily a good-looking man. Not conventionally, anyway. His obviously twisted lip, his slightly crooked nose, his large, hairy body... none of those things made it into the menswear magazines.

However, the beard was rather nice. It was thick and glossy, the color changing pleasantly from dark near the sideburns, to a sort of golden red over his chin and cheeks, then brightening to a distinguished silver around his mouth. Instead of shaving it, he merely shaped it up a bit, using one of Arnold's razors and a pair of nail scissors. 

His hair he just pulled back in the tie he usually kept it in, not liking it dripping wet over his shoulders and neck while it dried. Sitting on the toilet seat, he clipped his nails, taking care with the toe he had bashed against a door frame last week and was sure he had broken. It seemed mostly healed now, but was still a little tender.

Feeling full and smelling better, Elias went in search of the lady's underwear catalogues he knew Albert had to have hidden somewhere. His instincts served him well, and just seconds later, he was hauling out and old, plastic toolbox from under the bed. He sat excitedly on the side of Albert's mattress and clicked open the clips that held the lid in place.

His eyes went wide and lustful as he caught sight of the first catalog sitting on top of a small treasure trove of other catalogs and magazines. A pretty woman in a cream bra and panties with large, white wings strapped to her back pouted nicely up at him from the glossy Victoria's Secret. 

Elias had been suspecting for a while that Albert had been keeping the best ones for himself. He would usually give him the normal store catalogs that also just happened to have underwear sections, like JC Penny's and Sears. While Elias did like those (they often had a range of models, large and thin, dark and light, and he liked variety), he usually had to pull the panty and bra section out and throw the rest away, because he hated that the pages would sometimes get flipped, and he would be staring at the children's section, which made him extremely uncomfortable. Unprotected by the other pages, the ladies underwear section would corrode quickly, the paper cheap and thin, disintegrating under the onslaught of Elias' fingers and the sea air.

But these magazines here- they were much higher quality, and much thicker than the Penny's intimate section. The lingerie also revealed a lot more and the women were prettier.

Elias had his fly open and his hand around himself before he even picked the magazine up, beating off furiously to the cover image.

His fantasies didn't usually get too complicated. There was no time. He often got as far as kissing or cupping the woman's plump breasts before his mind immediately skipped over to just pumping in and out like a machine, coming seconds later. 

On the days when it was really bad and his body demanded that he get off several times in a row before it allowed him to think of anything else, Elias would sometimes dream up a girlfriend and imagine taking her on a date. In this fantasy he often said clever, interesting things to her while pulling out her chair at a French restaurant, helping her to sit, plump and pretty, at a table with a white cloth and candles.

He didn’t get to that stage this time, barely thinking about the Victoria's Secret model's breasts before bending in half and coming into the tissue paper he had remembered to grab from the bathroom. Sighing happily at the relief it brought him, Elias leaned back in the bed with the tool box snugged up to his side, leisurely pawing through the rest of the magazines and catalogs to see what options there were for later.

He found the gay magazine towards the bottom, hidden inside an old issue of Playboy. He stared at it for a moment, his brain not registering what he was seeing. He was already gripping himself around the base of his growing erection, having seen some very delightful things in the porn magazines he’d just unearthed. His fist closed tighter and he stilled all movement as he looked, pulling the magazine out so he could see the cover image properly.

There was a large, hairy man standing behind a petite, pretty man, strategically cupping him between the legs so that nothing showed. The picture was black and white, very artistically done, and if it had been a woman standing in front of the man instead of another male, Elias would have called this image his favorite so far. But… it was two men. 

He looked some more, confused. He knew that people were gay, of course. He’d seen TV the few times he’d made it back to the city in the past decade. There were gay people in some of the shows he had watched then. But, he didn’t know of anyone personally that was gay. Not men who liked men or women who liked women.

Well, maybe he did, actually. Albert had this magazine. It said it was for gay men right on the cover page. So maybe Albert was a little bit gay. He obviously liked women, as most of the magazines featured them. Not this one though.

Elias let go of his dick in order to turn the pages of his new discovery. Many of the images inside weren’t as high quality or as artistic as the cover image. He skipped a lot of the garishly colored ones until he found the section that featured the couple from the front. Apparently they were “gay famous,” or so the article declared. They were also a real-life, married couple. Elias’ jaw dropped open. Men could marry men? He’d never heard of such a crazy thing. Maybe this whole magazine was just some sort of joke…

The pictures, though. They were very… creative. Elias couldn’t help noticing that the larger man looked a bit like himself, with a beard and hair up in a bun. His shoulders were wide and his hips and thighs were very masculine. Plus, his body wasn’t shaved and he had a hairy chest, much like Elias did. While he found the man to be good-looking, it was more in a “maybe I should do that with my hair” sort of way, and not in a sexual sort of way.

The smaller man, however, with his pretty face and smooth skin… the way he threw his head back in one of the photos as the larger man touched him…

Elias came with a jolt and a whimper, not having registered that he had been, in fact, masterbating to a gay photoshoot. And not even one of the explicit ones.

He set the magazine aside and went into the bathroom, washing his hands and looking at himself in the mirror. He looked the same. He didn’t necessarily look like a man that enjoyed gay porn. But apparently, he was. He would have to think about this. He wasn’t sure his opinion of himself needed to change all that much, even if it were true. That man had been pretty enough to have been a girl anyway. Maybe that’s all there was to it. Elias like women and men that looked like women confused him enough to get him off. Simple. Nothing to worry about.

An hour later, after jerking off two more times to the same photoshoot, Elias was worried. He would have continued to agonize over it, if he hadn’t been interrupted by a staticy voice from the other room.

“...-ayd-... -may... -ay… I repe-.. -an… -nyone hea-... -e?” Elias got up from where he had been sitting on the couch trying to read a nice, normal book about fly fishing instead of thinking about slim young men screaming out as they were caressed, and made his way quickly into the office. He fiddled with the tuner, finally getting the distress call to come in clearer.

“Mayday, Mayday! We are taking on water, sinking fast. We need immediate assistance!” Elias listened tensely to the repeated distress call, waiting for emergency services to answer. He could hear the howling wind over the line, sounding so much fiercer than it did against the windows of Albert’s tiny apartment. There was a voice in the background, shouting. The last thing Elias caught before the call cut off were the frantically hissed coordinates of the distressed ship.

He sat there for several minutes, staring intently at the radio and waiting for someone to try and answer the S.O.S. After five minutes of quietly popping static, he got to his feet and opened the front door. He couldn’t see the ocean from this vantage point, but he could hear it. Instinctively he knew it was too dangerous for him to leave the harbor. His fishing boat was not built for seas as rough as this. He would have to wait until it was calmer. By then, it would most likely be too late.

He went back inside and spent the time waiting making a small dinner for himself and looking through Albert’s pantry for any non-perishables he could take with him incase his search took a while. Elias wouldn’t even have considered going if that call had been replied to. He didn’t want a run-in with any sort of authorities. But he was likely the only one to have picked up the call, given his proximity. He would be able to get there quickly once the storm had died down. 

The storm lasted well into the night, and by then it was much too dark to venture out in rough seas. Elias fretted, tugging at his beard. He couldn’t stop thinking that it might be Albert, even though it hadn’t been Albert’s voice. Still. Elias was uneasy. He barely slept and at dawn he was pulling out of the harbor through the choppy waves.

The grey sea was roiling, the clouds dark and heavy off to the west, though to the east there was a hint of blue skies following on the storm’s heels. The rain had stopped, though the wind was blowing up a fine spray against the cabin windows as Elias steered steadily towards the coordinates given by the frantic voice last night.

There was no ship to be found. Elias had known that would be the case, but he still felt a jolt of commiseration. How easily could that have been him out here, all alone in a dark sea, no one responding to his call? He wasn’t even supposed to be up here. Who would even come looking? He hoped that he could at least find something. Alert the authorities somehow. Though that was a problem for later. For now, he concentrated on looking for wreckage.

About an hour later, he began to see bits of what he assumed had been the ship’s cargo. He walked out onto the deck and peered over the side to get a closer look. There were bits of plastic that had most likely come from the body of the ship itself, scattered and drifting mostly submerged in the waves. Green and red apples bobbed here and there, flashing their bright colors as they rolled over in the salty waves. Elias didn’t see anything that was salvageable and nothing that was alive.

He continued to track the debris, getting closer and closer to shore, where the wind and the waves had been driving the wreckage overnight. For a moment, he thought he caught sight of a larger shape at the crest of a wave. He steered the boat towards it and, as both his vessel and the shape came out of the trough of water and balanced high on the swell, he confirmed what he thought he had seen. It was an overturned lifeboat.

Elias grimaced and chewed at his bottom lip. If only it hadn’t been capsized, there would have been a chance. He searched the sea with his eyes, squinting in the light that was starting to break through the clouds at last. He didn’t see any other boats or large shapes that could have been harboring survivors. He pulled up closer to the lifeboat, catching sight of the boat’s name emblazoned on its side. It was unfamiliar. Not Albert. He breathed a sigh of relief. Then he gasped and leaned out farther over the rail.

There was an arm. An arm that was reaching out of the water as the man it was attached to clung desperately to the side of the boat, his fingers white from the strain of gripping the rope that encircled the overturned hull.

The man looked up at Elias and Elias looked down at him. There was a moment before the man’s eyes registered that what he was seeing was real; that he was rescued. Elias knew he hadn’t come a moment too soon. Those were the eyes of a man who was on the brink of giving up, of letting go. The man’s eyes closed for the briefest moment, and Elias’s heart lept in panic, thinking that he was too late, that this man was going to slip beneath the waves and be lost.

Instead, the man in the water threw his head back and laughed. Elias could barely hear the sound over the waves and the wind that was still rushing over the ocean, tearing the man’s voice away, but he was pretty sure it had not been a happy laugh. Something in his stomach tightened. Perhaps he was too late, after all.

It took several long, agonizing minutes to get the man safely on board. Elias had to keep his boat far enough away from the capsized liferaft to avoid it being smashed into the side by the waves. Then he had to throw the life preserver and rope close enough for the man to grab it, which also meant that the man had to let go of the raft. After clinging to it all night with a death grip, he seemed unable to do so easily.

Finally, after the fifth time Elias had gotten it close to him, shouting encouragement over the wind, the man lunged for the white ring, his head going under the water as his stiff hands tried to grip the slippery plastic. After that, it was a struggle to get the man up on the deck without dashing him against the side. The man was so weak, he could barely hold on, let alone haul himself up, meaning that Elias had to lean perilously low over the side to grab hold of him.

At long last, the waterlogged man was lying on the deck, his eyes closed as he lay in the cold puddle forming under him, sea water pooling from his clothes and hair. Elias stood there over him, helplessly staring. The man was small and delicate and so so... pretty. And so wet, cold, and half-drowned.

Elias snapped out of his rude staring and pulled his jacket off, pausing before laying it over the man. It would just get wet, and the man would still be cold. He began unbuttoning the man’s sopping coat, tugging the scarf that was wrapped around his neck - far too tightly - until it came loose. Then he started working on his shirt.

The man’s eyes fluttered open, and a moment later he was weakly batting away Elias’ hands, making soft, worried noises. Elias leaned back, spreading his fingers placatingly.

“You’re wet,” he explained, realizing what trying to take the man’s clothes off may have looked like from the other side. “You need to get warm and dry.” He gestured feebly to the large coat slung over the crook of his arm. 

Sea-colored eyes stared up at him, skipping from his eyes, to his twisted upper lip and, finally, down to the coat. Comprehension animated his features a moment later, and he struggled to sit up. Elias helped him with a hand on his back.

“You are really cold,” Elias exclaimed, cringing as the small man jerked away from his loud voice. It had been a long time since he’d talked to someone other than Albert. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “May I help you?”

The man searched his face again, then nodded once. Elias brushed the man’s numb fingers away from where they were futilely trying to undo the buttons of his shirt, and quickly helped him strip down to his underwear. Then he wrapped him in the coat, zipping it up all the way, covering the man’s vulnerable throat. 

The coat was old and probably smelled like fish and the sea and Elias, but at least it was warm. They left the man’s pile of wet clothing on the deck and Elias helped him into the cabin. He settled him into the plastic deck chair in the corner, before giving him a quick once-over for obvious injuries. He was shivering now, which was good. He hadn’t been when he’d first hauled him onto the deck. His body was at least trying to fight the cold, trying to survive. Good, that was good.

“Are you from the city?” Elias asked, going over to his navigation panel, trying to mentally calculate how long it would take them to get to the nearest port with a medical clinic, and whether or not he had enough fuel to get them there. There was plenty back at the warehouse, but that would mean a detour and revealing the location of his illegal fishing operation to a stranger.

He turned when the silence stretched on too long. Defiant eyes met his, the man’s jaw tight, despite his desperate trembling. Elias got the thermos of hot coffee out of his knapsack, glad that he’d taken the time to make it before leaving the apartment. He poured the steaming liquid into the lid of the thermos, only filling it halfway on account of the man’s trembling hands. The man curled his fingers around the lid when Elias handed it over, accompanied by a sigh of relief from the warmth seeping into his numb digits. He sipped carefully, but still didn’t answer. That was a bit rude.

“Now, don’t be rude,” Elias said, repeating what he’d often heard from his adoptive mother. Usually when she was talking to him. “I asked you a perfectly easy question. It’s only natural that I would need to know where you’re from. I need to get you back home, don’t I? You’re only half-saved. I have to get you home for it to count.”

He had been speaking while looking out the window over the man’s head, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to finish his little speech if he was looking into those pretty eyes, the small mouth pressed into a petulant line. Now, as he looked at him, he felt bad for his harsh words. The man was gripping his plastic mug of coffee too tightly, his hands bloodless and white. His soulful eyes were directed down to the cup and his dark hair hung, dripping, over his face.

Elias went to him in remorse, squatting down so he could look at his face. “Hey, hey. It’s okay,’ he said. “You’ve been through a lot, I understand. It’s just that, I need to know which hospital to take you to, alright? I don’t want to take you too far from your home. And I have to make sure we have enough fuel to get there, so, please tell me where you need to go.”

The man’s lip quirked, but it wasn’t really a smile. It was joyless, defeated. “Away,” he said, the word raspy, like he had yelled himself hoarse.

“I don’t understand,” Elias said, leaning in close, like maybe he could catch the man’s meaning by proximity. The man leaned back to get away from him, and Elias backed off, giving him space.

“Don’t take me back to the main port,” the man said at last, his eyes flashing up and catching Elis by surprise at the heat in them, though his voice was soft. “Please. I only just got away.’

Elias nodded helplessly, pretending to understand, though he was completely lost. “Okay,” he said, still nodding sagely. “Then where-”

“I don’t care,” the man snapped. “Just… not back there. Please.”

Elias may not have had a lot of social grace, but he knew begging when he heard it. “Okay,” he said, stronger this time. “Okay.”

He turned back to the dash, staring at it, hoping it would tell him what to do. He had no clue, but he did know that the man needed warm clothes and food, and the closest place to get both was the hidden warehouse.

The engine groaned its usual protest at being coaxed into any sort of speed, and Elias started to relax, the familiar feeling of handling his boat making him feel calm.

“I’m Elias.”

“Adam.”

“How many people on your boat, Adam?”

The petite man sighed. “Only two of us. I paid a man to bring me up here.”

“We should look for him.”

Adam rubbed his slim hands over his elfin face. “No need,” he said softly. Elias raised his eyebrows in question. “He didn’t make it,” he mumbled. Heaving a breath in, he continued in a rough voice. “He was trying to call for help. He stayed on the boat too long. It was sinking so fast. I was struggling with the lifeboat, yelling at him to help me. When he finally came out of the cabin, the ship lurched and I ended up in the water with the capsized boat, and he… he must have hit his head. I tried to grab him, but he went under and I couldn’t see him anymore… I knew that my only chance was to hold onto the lifeboat, so I, I didn’t even try to look for him after that,” Adam said, his voice strained with guilt.

Elias let the boat come to a drifting halt and crouched back down in front of the small creature, shivering in Elias’ oversized coat. He soothed him like he would a skittish animal, his large hand drifting over Adam’s damp hair, cupping the back of his skull gently, hoping some of his warmth would seep through.

“You did the right thing,” he told him, keeping his voice steady, not too loud. “If you had tried to dive after him, you would have drowned.” Adam’s eyes flashed up to his, as if trying to determine the sincerity of his words. Elias looked back, earnest and wanting the man to believe him. Adam finally nodded. Elias stood again and poured Adam some more coffee, before returning to the wheel and heading back north to the warehouse.

It wasn’t until Adam was sitting on Albert’s sofa, wrapped up in a quilt, and drinking hot tea, that he spoke again. “You’re up here illegally, aren’t you?”

Elias’ instinct was to bristle, but there was no heat in Adam’s words. He was just confirming what he’d already figured out.

“Yes,’ Elias muttered, both proud and ashamed of his source of income.

Adam nodded. “This place is really well-hidden.”

Elias smiled at the praise, puffing out his chest. “I found the location,” he announced from where he was standing in front of Adam, posed to go to the kitchen for food to feed his guest. “Albert built the place, though.”

“Albert?” Adam asked, his eyebrow rising along with the left corner of his mouth. “And just who is this Albert?”

Something about the way he asked made Elias blush. He and Albert were only friends, of course, but finding that magazine had changed his perspective on things. He wondered if Albert had ever wanted more. Or maybe he was overthinking it. That magazine could have ended up in Albert’s porn stash by accident for all he knew.

“A friend,” Elias said, blushing harder. Adam was full on smirking at him from his cocoon of blankets. “You’re disgusting!” Elias roared, for lack of anything intelligent to say, stomping off to the kitchen to fix lunch for his guest, while trying not to wonder if all those times Albert had invited him to stay at the apartment, instead of on his boat, had actually meant something more.

It wasn’t like Albert was completely without charm, but it would never have occurred to Elias to desire him. He was an average looking man, not beautiful like Adam. And while it was rather nice to have something so pretty and delicate to look at, it was also disconcerting. It was like the time he had found a translucent jellyfish on one of the traps, surrounded by the boring looking prawn. He had freed it over the side of the boat, watching in fascination as the bell of its ballerina-like body had flared out in the water, regaining its shape as it pulsed away under the waves, a long trail of silky threads trailing behind. After that, he had always been both happy and saddened when all he found in the traps were prawn.

He made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, grateful that Albert kept his bread in the freezer, so that it was still edible. He assembled two for each of them, bringing them out and setting them down on the coffee table, before returning to the kitchen for glasses of water. When he sat down in the chair next to the couch, Adam was looking at him with an odd expression, seemingly torn between amused and annoyed. Elias was surprised, but then he remembered that he had just called the pretty man disgusting.

“I didn’t mean it,” Elias said. “I thought you were being rude, but now that I think about it, you didn’t say anything inappropriate. I apologize for shouting and for insulting you.”

Adam nodded and extricated a hand from under the quilt so that he could grab the plate of sandwiches in front of him. He seemed relaxed again as he chewed hungrily, so Elias assumed that he was forgiven. That had gone better than we would have guessed. So far, it seemed that being around Adam was much easier than his normal social interactions with others. Especially dates. Dates had not usually ended well for Elias. They rarely ended in sex, which, frankly, was the main reason he went on any of them. It had been a long time since he’d even been on a date. Just the sea. And Albert. And the boat. That was his world.

His eyes were drawn to the man as he reached for his water glass. He looked young, being so small and pretty, but he was probably in his thirties, Elias would guess. A good decade younger than himself. He had polite table manners, Elias noted with an approving nod as Adam used the folded paper towel to wipe his mouth and fingers when he was through eating. 

Adam’s hair was almost dry now, and Elias was surprised by the soft curls that had appeared, hanging like dark silk around the man’s pale face and brushing softly down his neck. It was long enough to have pulled it back in a ponytail, but it looked so pretty down, Elias hoped it wouldn’t occur to Adam to do so. He found it interesting that, while they both had hair that curled, Adam’s was baby fine and fell in perfect, loose curls, as opposed to his own which was a wild mess and was only kept manageable by trapping it in an elastic band.

Adam caught him staring, so he quickly dropped his eyes and finished eating, wiping at his beard for crumbs once he was finished. He picked up their plates to bring to the kitchen, and was pleased to note the way the quilt had loosened around Adam’s shoulders and that he was no longer shivering. He brought him another glass of water, knowing that hydration was important after an ordeal like the one Adam had just been through.

He stood to the side of the couch, watching Adam drink, ready to go get him another glass. The large T-shirt Elias had given him to put on, having found it in one of the milk crates in Albert’s bedroom, was stretched out over Adam’s neck and shoulder where the heavy quilt was tugging it down. Adam’s throat flashed as he swallowed the water, his head tilted back and his eyes closed.

Unbidden, the image of tracing Adam’s collarbones with the tip of his cock flashed into Elias’ mind. For a moment, he saw it with stunning clarity. His hard dick clasped in one hand, the girth and weight of it more than equal to the largest of the men he’d seen pictured in Albert’s gay magazine, red at the head, trailing precome down Adam’s throat...

The next thing Elias knew, he was in the bathroom with the door barely closed and his pants open. He had just enough time to get his other hand cupped in front of his cockhead before he was coming with a low groan, catching his release as best he could as he slumped back against the wall.

He stayed there for a moment, dazed by how powerful the fantasy had been. It was so much different to his fantasies about women, which centered mostly on breasts and pumping himself quick inside them till he burst. What he had just imagined about Adam had been far more intimate. He had never had a fantasy like that about anyone before.

He jumped when there was a soft knock on the door. “Are you alright, Elias?” Adam asked, muffled through the wood. “I thought I heard you cry out-”

“I’m fine- I’m fine, Adam,” Elias gasped, trying to get his breath back. It was too much to get his mind around, all of this at once. He’d only barely reached the conclusion yesterday that there may just be men in the world that he could feel attracted to, that his best friend might like guys, possibly, no, probably him as well. To top it all off, the single most lovely creature he’d ever laid eyes on was just on the other side of the door.

Elias forced himself to straighten up, his shaky legs taking his weight dubiously, and washed up in the sink, his handful of come rinsing down the drain with the water. He opened the door to Adam’s face lifting up to his, the smaller man having come to check on him in just the baggy T-shirt and a pair of Albert’s boxers, the quilt abandoned on the floor by the sofa.

“You sure you’re alright?” Adam asked. “You are all flushed and-”

“No really, I’m just fine,” Elias said, herding Adam back to the living room. He picked up the quilt and tucked Adam back in, being careful not to look at his neck, though he did get a breath of his scent, of the ocean and the storm. “You smell like the sea,” Elias said before he could think better of it.

Adam sniffed at himself and wrinkled his nose. “I should take a shower,” he said, though that’s not what Elias had meant. “Does Albert have hot water?” he asked, a glimmer of humor lurking about his eyes.

Elias huffed. “Yes of course there is hot water. Plenty. As much as you want. I just have to go turn on the heater in the kitchen.”

Adam smiled at him. “Would you?” he asked, cocking his head to the side. That was… that was really cute.

“Yes!” Elias barked, practically running for the kitchen, all enthusiasm for seeing to Adam’s needs. The heater cranked up, Elias herded Adam back down the hall to the bathroom, getting him towels and showing him where the soap and shampoo was kept, and generally fussing over him until Adam was laughing and pushing him back out of the door with one slim hand on the center of his chest.

He stood looking at the closed door. The sound of the water running into the deep tub finally snapped him out of his reverie, and he backed away, giving Adam the privacy he deserved as a guest.

Elias wandered around the apartment, listless. Adam had only been there a few hours, but already the place felt too empty without him perched on the couch, wrapped up in the patchwork quilt. He tugged it off the arm of the sofa where Adam had left it, and held it to his nose. He inhaled and got the mixed scent of Adam and the sea along with the smell of must and cedar from the quilt. It smelled comforting, like home.

He found himself suddenly blinking back tears, his arms clutching the bunched up quilt to his chest in a strangle hold. He missed his brothers. He missed his adoptive parents, long since dead. He missed Albert. Rubbing his face into the quilt, he sought comfort, the worn cotton squares quickly absorbing his tears.

He found himself wondering what it would be like to rub against Adam, like a cat seeking affection. Would he laugh at the way Elias’ beard tickled him? Or moan with pleasure? Elias’ mind quickly jumped to the magazine that was hidden under a pillow on the bed and that one photo inside of the pretty young man with his head thrown back-

In an instant, Elias was in the bedroom, sitting on the mattress and dragging out the magazine. He didn’t even notice the water heater going silent as the tap in the bathroom was shut off. He was too intent on locating the picture. Finding it at last, he was a little disappointed to see that the young man in the photograph was not as pretty as he remembered. He was still nice to look at, but Adam was so much more beautiful.

A lurch of guilt went through him as the floor creaked in the hall and Adam stepped into the doorway, freshly scrubbed, his hair once again wet, but combed out of his face. He was dressed back in the T-shirt and boxers from before, looking small but unmistakably masculine.

Elias’ throat clicked as he swallowed, his eyes large as he realized that Adam was staring at the magazine in his hands. Making a shocked sound, he quickly hid it under the pillow again.

“That must be Albert’s,” he said, much too loudly. “I just found it. Just now. Under the pillow. I thought you might want a pillow for your back,” he lied, desperately. “And there is was. Under Albert’s pillow. Imagine that. The nerve of that guy, leaving porn around where just anyone can find it.”

Adam was biting his lip and fighting a smile. Though Elias knew that it was pointless to keep trying, he still made a show of huffing aggressively while retrieving the magazine only to stuff it behind the upturned crate that Albert used as a bedside table. Giving a nod to show that the surprise porn had been successfully dealt with, Elias led Adam back to the living room, intent on changing the subject.

“Do you take medication?” he asked as an opener, once he had made sure they both had full glasses of water. He opened a can of raisins he’d found in the cupboard and set them in the middle of the coffee table, in case Adam was still hungry. Almost drowning and being half-frozen takes a lot out of a person. Elias should know.

Adam wrinkled his brow up at the question, his mouth falling slack. “No?” he said slowly.

“I mean, because if you are diabetic or something, we would have to get you medicine right away. One of my brothers is diabetic. He has to have his insulin with him all the time or he’d drop dead.”

Adam was biting his lip again, his eyes sparkling. “No,” he confirmed, shaking his head. “No diabetes. No medications.”

“I am supposed to be on medication,” Elias admitted, though he hadn’t planned on telling Adam that. “I stopped taking it, though. But don’t worry, I won’t die. It wasn’t like that. Not for something actually wrong with me. I mean, not my body. Anyway, I’m glad you don’t take anything, because I think all Albert has is a first aid kit and aspirin, and I don’t have anything, so I would have had to take you back to the mainland right away.”

“Nope,” Adam said, chuckling softly. “No need to take me back.” His face hardened then, looking more like porcelain than skin. “Not ever.”

“Wait,” Elias said, struggling with Adam’s meaning. “Are you saying that you want to live here? Right here, in the apartment?”

Adam’s eyes were grim, though his lips curled in a smile. “Sure, Elias. Why not?”

“But your family-”

“No need to worry about them.”

“Your friends, then.”

Adam snorted. “My last ‘friend’ slept with my boyfriend, who, when I tried to break up with him, attempted to strangle me. So no, I don’t think any one is waiting for me with open arms.”

“Your job?” Elias tried, his brain still reeling around what Adam had just said, not sure if it wanted to focus on the fact that Adam liked men or that he had nearly been murdered.

“Freelance journalist,” he answered with a wry smile. “No office and no coworkers no worry about either. Looks like you’re stuck with me for a bit, Elias. Finders, keepers.” His smile disappeared, dissolving into bitterness. “Of course, if i’m not welcome here, I understand. Wouldn’t want to intrude on you and Albert.”

“Me and Albert? But, I don’t live here, Adam. This is Albert’s place. I live on my boat, and I have a cabin farther north.”

Adam blinked at him. “But I thought you two were…” he trailed off. “I mean, the magazine… and you know where everything is, I thought…”

“I stop here every week to drop of my catch. Albert lets me take a shower and I pick up my provisions from him. But I don’t live here. If you stay and Albert comes back, you’ll be the one living with him, not me.”

“Oh,” Adam said, looking put out by the information. He gazed around the room again, as though reassessing it in light of this new information. “I don’t know if I would like Albert.”

Elias shrugged. “He’s alright. He’s not as handsome as me, though.” He shouldn’t have said that last part. It was boastful. Plus, what if Adam didn’t think it was true? What if he met Albert and thought that he was the better looking out of the two? And Albert, with his gay magazine and all, would probably love that. Elias grew angry just thinking about it.

Meanwhile, Adam was giving him another amused look. “That doesn’t surprise me,” he said, and Elias had to struggle to remember what he’d just said, as those sea-colored eyes caught his.

“Would you like me to shave?” Elias asked, his fingers running over his whiskers. “I thought about shaving yesterday, but I rather like the beard, It’s useful for being outside on the water. But if you would like it better, I could shave it.”

Adam’s face went from confused to delighted. Maybe he should have shaved then, if the thought brought Adam so much pleasure. He was suddenly completely sure, in a horrible way, like getting struck with a bolt of lightning, that he would do anything this man asked of him.

“Leave it,” Adam said, when he finally got his features under control. “I like it. It’s very… rugged. Plus, it’s in fashion right now. Especially with that man bun.”

Elias raised his fingers to his hastily pulled-back hair. “If I don’t, it gets too tangled to do anything with,” he admitted sheepishly. “It’s not… not as nice as yours.”

Adam laughed delightedly at the praise and shook his head so that the wet strands went flying, falling out of the combed-back pattern and scattering around his face. He looked up at Elias through his lashes. “Why thank you, darling,” he said. Elias swallowed.

They ended up watching a movie. There was no TV reception, and Albert didn’t have a satellite dish, so they had to settle for one of the VHS tapes on Albert’s small, color TV. As the TV was in the bedroom, they ended up on the mattress together, leaning against the wall. Elias made sure that Adam had the fluffiest of the two pillows and fussed over him until Adam promised him that he was perfectly comfortable, thank you.

It turned out that Albert was a bit of a romantic, and several of his movies were rom-coms. Elias snorted when he read the titles, and snorted again when Adam chose to watch Sleepless in Seattle over Indiana Jones. Elias made popcorn on the stove and doused it with butter - just the way he liked it - and brought it back to the bedroom along with the old quilt and yet another glass of water for Adam. He was still very concerned that he wasn’t getting enough fluids. He was barely using the bathroom at all, and that must mean he was still dehydrated.

Elias arranged everything within Adam’s reach and then flicked off the overhead light and crawled in next to him, clutching the controller. He first made sure that Adam was bundled up and comfy, earning himself an eye roll, before pressing play. The color was faded almost to the point of being sepia-toned and the tape warbled in a few spots, but it was watchable. Adam chuckled beside him, scooping up buttery popcorn and eating them one by one from his cupped hand as he watched the movie.

It hit Elias, then, how lonely he was. It felt so good to have someone here, someone to feed and to watch movies with. Adam was a warm presence at his side, not quite touching, but solid and real. His gaze drew Adam’s attention and he asked if something was wrong, a crease of concern across his forehead.

Elias just shook his head, unable to find the words. He could feel the tears threatening, his throat tightening. Pausing the movie, Adam reached out a hand to Elias’ far shoulder, so that his arm was stretched across their bodies and he was turned slightly towards Elias. “You can tell me, Elias,” he said softly.

“I…” he choked and started again. “I’m so alone here,” he managed. “Albert’s gone and he might not be coming back, and even though we are just friends, we are friends, you know? And now there’s you, and you’re saying you want to stay, but I know you’ll change your mind. I’m not an easy person to get along with. One of my brothers said I ruined his life just by wanting to be around him all the time. And you’re so… so-”

“I’m so what, Elias?” Adam was right there, so close, so tangible. Yet he couldn’t possibly be real. And even if he was, he wouldn’t be staying. Elias knew he would l follow him if Adam wanted him to, but why on earth would he want him to?

“You’re so wrong about wanting to stay here,” Elias said, though that hadn’t been what was in his mind. He decided that it probably wasn’t a good idea to tell a stranger, even a stranger that he completely and utterly worshiped, that he was beautiful. Too beautiful. Too beautiful for Elias or Albert or this whole damn depressing continent.

Adam gave his shoulder a firm shake and leaned back into his pillow. “Maybe,” he said. “But at this point, you’ll have to drop me back into the ocean to convince me to leave.” Adam laughed at Elias’ horrified look and just reached for more popcorn, turning back to the TV and hitting play on the remote.

The sun had set by the time Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan were holding hands on top of the Empire State Building. Adam was smooshed down against the bed, head just high enough on the pillow to still see the screen, the quilt pulled up under his chin. He made a sleepy grunt as Elias struggled out of bed to turn off the TV and switch on the side lamp, both of them blinking in the sudden light.

“You hungry again?” Elias asked, stretching his arms up over his head to pop his back. He sighed in satisfaction and pulled his clothes to rights, embarrassed to discover that his shirt had slid up over his belly, revealing his dense happy trail. 

“What?” Adam asked after a long pause, his half-lidded eyes trailing up from where they had been resting at Elias’ midsection.

“Are you hungry?’ Elias repeated, concerned. Maybe what Adam needed was a good night’s sleep. He couldn’t have slept at all in the water, Elias realized. He must be exhausted. 

“Oh, I’m definitely hungry,” Adam said with a slow, punch-drunk smile. “And I suppose some food wouldn’t be bad either.”

It was worse than he’d thought. Adam was hardly making sense. Elias hurried to the kitchen. He’d get him something quick and easy to digest, and then insist that he sleep. He returned a few minutes later with more sandwiches - Nutella this time - and a mug of tea. Adam ate and drank with Elias watching his every move, fearing he’d drop the hot tea on himself. Adam seemed amused at the attention, nudging Elias with his foot when he kept staring.

Elias cleaned up, and by the time he returned to the bedroom, Adam was asleep. He breathed a sigh of relief as he turned off the light and tiptoed back out to the couch. He had forgotten to get a pillow or blanket for himself ahead of time, and he didn’t want to wake Adam up, so he made due with propping his head on the arm of the sofa and pulling his coat over himself. He quickly realized that it was still slightly damp from Adam, since he hadn’t hung it up to dry properly. He got up and hooked the coat over a peg by the door, grumbling softly to himself. Then he settled back down to sleep, his arms wrapped around his chest.

Several hours later, Elias was awakened from a disturbing dream about a bird by a strange noise. His sat up, worried that he couldn’t feel the motion of his boat, before he realized that he was lying on Albert’s couch. It was the door to the bathroom closing that had awoken him. Adam must have finally needed to go to the bathroom after all the water and tea Elias had been giving him all afternoon and evening. Good. That was healthy.

However, the hallway was dark, and Elias worried that Adam would stub his toe (his own throbbed in sympathy at the thought) so he got up to turn on the light. He realized just how hard he was only after shifting to his feet, his dick tenting the front of his pants. True, he often woke like this, but he was usually alone on his boat, or was at least able to reach a bathroom to take care of himself. But with Adam currently in the restroom, he had limited options. He decided to wait Adam out, the toilet flushing a moment later, followed by the sound of running water as he washed his hands.

Finally the door opened, revealing a very surprised Adam, but Elias couldn’t waste time explaining. “Sorry,” he said trying to get past him without touching him. “Emergency,” he added, just as Adam’s gaze dropped to the front of Elias’ pants and his eyes went as round as saucers. Elias closed the door more or less in Adam’s face, the last thing he saw being his open mouth. The image only served to make things worse, and Elias barely got his pants open and his hand on his dick before he was coming with a whimper.

This time, he forgot to cup his hand or get any tissue, arching backwards instead, and thrusting his hips forward, as though he were pushing the orgasm from his body by sheer force of will. He slumped, boneless, against the sink. That had been a powerful one, yet his erection still hadn’t flagged. It was still standing to attention, ready for more. Elias trapped it back in his pants instead, and turned his focus to cleaning up the evidence. That finished, he flushed the tissues he’d used to wipe up his ropes of come and washed his hands

He opened the door and nearly screamed. Adam jumped as well, standing in the same spot he’d left him, eyes still wide. Adam’s gaze dropped again to his crotch and he gasped. “But you just… I heard you…” he murmured to himself as he stared at him, his eyes going half-mast again.

“You should be in bed,” Elias said, and a slow smirk spread over Adam’s face. “Sleeping,” he added, and Adam’s smile turned into a small frown. He allowed Elias to herd him back to bed, sneaking looks between his legs whenever he could, until Elias was red-faced and stammering. He left Adam in the bedroom doorway, heading back, to the couch and throwing himself on it, willing his erection away, He might have to get up and deal with it again, but now that Adam knew what he was doing, it was too embarrassing. So he decided to wait it out. The coldness of the room and the uncomfortable couch ought to help.

“Elias?”

He jumped up in a flail of limbs. “Gah!... Yes, Adam?”

“You can’t be comfortable out here.”

“I forgot to grab a pillow.”

“It’s cold.”

“I forgot to grab a blanket.”

“I’m cold,” Adam said, his thin arms wrapped around himself.

Elias got up in concern. “I have the heat as high as it will go. I think that the furnace is broken,” he admitted. “I’m good at fixing things,” he assured Adam. “But not furnaces.” He looked Adam over in the light from the hallway. He was all slender lines, masculine and beautiful. His bare legs were pressed together and he was shivering. “Let’s look for more blankets,” Elias decided.

Ten minutes later, they had come up with another set of sheets, a waffle weave blanket with holes in it, and a sweatshirt. Elias sighed. The only pants he had found were more boxers and a pair of jeans. He offered the jeans to Adam, but he shook his head. “Too uncomfortable,” he said, so Elias tossed them back in the milk crate.

They put the extra flat sheet on the bed over the original sheet, then the blanket with the holes, then the quilt. Adam pulled on the sweatshirt, which swamped him, and crawled in under the covers, scootching over next to the wall. Elias was about to grab the extra pillow and head back to the couch, when Adam held open the blankets in invitation.

“But-” Elias started.

“It’s too cold and there aren’t any extra quilts.”

“I’m fine. I’m used to the cold,” Elias insisted. 

Adam gave him a look. “Maybe, but I’m not, and this bed is freezing and big enough for the both of us. Please get in, Elias.”

It was the please that finally made up his mind. Slowly, like he was trying not to wake him even though Adam was staring at him, he stripped out of his pants and crept into the bed. He flicked off the light and settled down in the darkness, painfully aware of the presence next to him. He rolled onto his back, not moving, barely daring to relax. He was still hard, the covers pressing down on him, inviting him to rub against them, to get some relief. He didn’t move a muscle.

“What did you do before you came out here to fish?” Adam asked, his voice hushed in the dark, though it was clear that he was just as much awake as Elias was.

Elias squirmed, but that felt too good so he stopped. “I was skilled at fighting and fishing,” he said, shrugging, the covers moving with the gesture. He suppressed a moan, turning it into clearing his throat instead. “I earned a little money from both. But then my brother got married, and he asked me to move out. He was nice about it, gave me plenty of time to decide, but…” he trailed off. Had he ever told this story to anyone? “I didn’t handle it well. It had always been just him and me, against the world, you know? And then, suddenly, I wasn’t important anymore, and he blamed me for all his past breakups…”

“He sounds like an asshole,” Adam said. He rolled closer and propped his head up on his hand. Elias could just make him out in the pale light from the window, his riot of soft hair tumbling around his face. He was angelic. “Have you ever been stranded in the ocean?” he asked, his voice going tight.

“Yes,” Elias said.

“Tell me about it?”

“I try not to think about it,” Elias whispered, not as a refusal, but as an explanation of why it was going to be difficult to tell him. His hard-on finally gave him some peace by softening some, though it hadn’t given up entirely. Sometimes Elias thought that his brain and his body had nothing to do with each other. “I was stranded overnight. I was in a lifeboat and not in the water. I was wet, freezing. The worst part wasn’t being afraid of drowning. It was the darkness. The feeling of the boat going up and down, up and down, and I couldn’t see when the next swell was coming. I couldn’t prepare for it. I was alone, in the dark. It was-”

“The worst night of your life?” Adam interrupted, though it didn’t feel rude, not coming from him. Elias nodded. Adam heaved a sigh. “What if I told you that last night wasn’t the worst night of my life?” he asked, voice strained. “What if I told you that the worst night of my life was when the man I loved turned out to be a liar and a cheat, and a psychopath as well? Those few minutes when he had a rope around my neck, when I thought that the hate in his eyes was the last thing I was going to see?”

Elias whimpered in sympathy, instinctively reaching out to soothe Adam, petting his arm and shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“I thought I was going to die last night, and I didn’t even care.” Elias gripped his shoulder tighter, as if he could keep Adam from the dark abyss he was slowly drowning in. Adam came back to himself with a huffed out laugh. “You’re different, aren’t you, Elias?”

He blinked at that, as though he could clear his eyes enough in the gloom to grasp Adam’s meaning. People had called him ‘different’ before, not usually in a nice way, but the way Adam had said it, it sounded more like praise than a putdown.

“Yes, I’m different,” Elias said, earning a brief flash of a smile from Adam in the dark.

“And, that magazine.” Adam continued, his voice coy now, teasing. “It doesn’t belong to Albert, does it?”

“It does!” Elias exclaimed half sitting up in alarm. “I found it looking for lingerie catalogs and-” He stopped, not wanting to say the rest of the sentence.

“And,” Adam continued, “you liked that one best?” Elias could hear the smile in Adam’s voice. “You took it out, and kept it close. Were you planning on looking at those pictures while you touched yourself, Elias?”

He whined, trying not to squirm. His erection, which had flagged during their serious conversation, had risen to full attention again, straining in his boxers under the sheets. He bit his lip, trying not to breathe. Trying not to move.

“I heard you in the bathroom,” Adam’s voice ghosted over his ear. He had moved closer, but still wasn’t touching him. “I heard how fast you came.” Elias’s breath caught, the seductive voice setting off a flow of electrical current throughout his body. “Were you thinking about that man in the magazine, Elias?” Elias shook his head violently. “Then who were you thinking about?” Adam was so close now, he could feel his lips move as he spoke, softly, right into his ear. “When you came, Elias, whose name was on your lips?”

Without warning, two fingers swept from the base of his cock up to the tip. “Uh, ah! Adam!” Elias called out, his dick twitching, trapped in the band of his boxers as he pulsed his orgasm onto the side of his stomach. It slipped in a hot rivulet down his side and onto the sheets, more come shooting from him as Adam moaned his apparent appreciation. 

“My god, Elias. That was so damn hot.”

Elias groaned, still euphoric from having Adam’s fingers on him, even if it was just one small touch. He wanted to kiss and to fondle, to stroke and worship the other man. He wasn’t sure if he was allowed, so he panted in the dark, letting out another small whine of need.

“Wait, are you still-” Adam got up and turned on the light. Once his eyes had adjusted, he got back into bed beside Elias. “You are. You’re still hard.” Adam gazed up at him like he was some sort of miracle. 

“I’m sorry,” Elias said. Adam probably wouldn’t want to touch him. Not once he understood what a freak he was. “It can be a problem.”

“Some problem,” Adam mumbled, looking at Elias’s dick with stars in his eyes. “Plus you’re huge. I’ve hit the fucking jackpot. It only took nearly drowning to get here.” 

Elias was about to tell him not to say such things, when Adam bent down and started licking his nipples. He let out a shocked breath.

“How many times can you come in a day?” Adam asked between licks, his hand roaming through Elias’ chest hair.

“Dunno,” Elias wheezed, feeling drunk, his brain wanting to concentrate on mouth and nipples and not speaking. “A lot. Too much.”

“Oh no, baby,” Adam said, looking up at him from under his lashes. “I extremely doubt it’s too much. The size of you, on the other hand…” Adam shrugged, “that’s the right kind of too much.” Then he grinned and Elias was done for.

“Can I touch you?” he asked, trembling from the need to put his hands on that smooth, male body. 

“God yes,” Adam said, flipping onto his back and sprawling open in invitation. Elias was on him in an instant, crushing him down with his weight, trying to feel every inch of Adam’s form at once. His hands raced up under the loose sweatshirt and they both moaned at the skin contact. Adam stripped his shirts off over his head and then Elias was able to touch all that silky skin. He loved the feeling of strong muscles as Adam strained against him.

He reared up and grabbed at the waist of the boxers Adam was wearing. “Is this okay?” Elias asked harshly, almost not recognizing his own voice so choked with need. 

He was already pulling them off when Adam nodded and said, “Yes, yes, please yes.” Adam’s cock slapped his stomach as it popped free of the waistband. Elias’ hand was on it instantly. It was small and sweet and so so beautiful, like Adam himself. Adam keened and pushed against him. “Off,” Adam gasped, tugging uselessly at Elias’ boxers. He shed them quickly, kicking them off his foot.

Adam grabbed his hips and pulled him down, bringing their groins together. Elias felt a thrill as their pubic hair pressed together and his balls brushed up against Adam’s. Then their dicks were touching and Elias was in heaven. 

“Come on me,” Adam was saying, grinding against him. “Elias, come on me.” He looked down, Adam’s head tossed back in bliss, his nipples peaked and pretty, his open mouth…

Elias rolled his hips a few more times before stilling and pressing his hips forward, as though thrusting deep inside. “Uhhhh!” he groaned, striping Adam’s belly and cock. Before he even caught his breath he was reaching for Adam, twisting his fist around his perfectly shaped cock until he cried out loudly, shaking as he came. 

It was gorgeous.

Adam fell asleep soon after, once they had cleaned up in the bathroom. Elias pulled him close and kept him warm, rubbing his bristled cheek against Adam’s silky locks. He liked the way Adam curved into him, the weight of his body leaning against him. Elias fought sleep, trying to savor as much of this as he could.

He woke close to dawn when Adam thrashed in his arms, crying out, and reaching for his throat.

“Shh, shh, Adam. I’m here. You’re safe,” he said, gently taking Adam’s hands in his so that he couldn’t hurt himself as he tried to claw at his throat. He awoke with a sob, his bright eyes darting around the room. When they landed on Elias, he relaxed and curled back into him.

“Sorry,” he breathed.

“It’s okay,” Elias soothed, petting him.

“It happens a lot,” Adam said. “Ever since he-”

“Shh, it’s alright.”

“You may want to reconsider this, Elias. I’m a mess. I have nightmares. I don’t care whether I live or die. I’m not someone normal people want around.”

“You hung on to the rope,” Elias said. 

Adam’s eyes went wide, and he reached for his throat. “How, how did you know?”

“The boat. The life raft. Your eyes had the look of someone who had given up, but you were still holding on. Is that how you escaped your boyfriend? You held on?”

Adam gave a jerky nod, his hair tangling on the pillow.

Elias shrugged. “Then I’m not worried. You’re strong. Stronger than most people.”

“I ran away,” he pointed out.

“You ran away to save yourself. That’s not bad”

Adam pressed his lips together.

Elias sighed as brushed back some of Adam’s curls. “I’m much more worried that you’ll leave when you realize what a freak I am. I have an insanely high sex drive. And you… you make me crazy. And, since we did... that last night, I’ll want you all the time now. I won’t be able to think of anything else. You’ll get sick of me and-”

“Hush,” Adam said with a smile. “We’ll figure it all out eventually, okay? Today, though, I’m not leaving. I’m staying with you. For all of today, alright? We’ll figure out tomorrow when it gets here. Promise?”

“I promise.”

“Do you want to kiss me?”

“Yes!”

“Kiss me please, Elias.”

He leaned in and captured Adam’s mouth with his deformed one, forgetting for the moment that he had anything to be ashamed of.

**Author's Note:**

> My [Tumblr](https://mothdustmouth.tumblr.com/)


End file.
